"Ghost of the Future," he exclaimed, "I fear you more than any       spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and       as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to       bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?"           "Lead on!" said Scrooge. "Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it      is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!"    Again the Ghost sped       on, above the black and heaving sea  -- on, on -- until, being far away,       as he told Scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. They stood       beside the helmsman at the wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers        who had the watch; dark, ghostly figures in their several stations;       but every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had        a Christmas thought, or spoke below his breath to his companion       of some bygone Christmas Day, with homewardhopes belonging to it.       And every man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had       a kinder word for another on that day than on any day in the year;       and had shared to some extent  in its festivities; and had       remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known       that they delighted to remember him. "I will honour Christmas             in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.          I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.        The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.                         I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.                                                      © 2006 SpiritKeepers- All Rights Reserved